Over the past several days, I've come to a realization. Actually, I knew it long before we left, but it has really proved itself recently. The part about this trip that makes it so special, fun, and interesting is really the people. Even though the band is a conglomerate of North and South band students, there was always a comfortable and familiar feeling within the group. And the comfort level is even higher within smaller groups of students who have, perhaps, been performing together for years and known each other for longer. You simply won't find as many people that you enjoy the company of on other trips such as the foreign language trips, for instance. I spend hours every week with most of these people, and the opportunity to go on a tour around Europe with them is quite rare. The ancient Roman forum, the Coloseum, and the beautiful scenery and castles of Germany will still be there years from now, but this exact group of friends will not.
One of my favorite moments of our first concert in Germany was during Dreamland. As many of you know, the song has some very soft moments where any noise from around the room can be heard and distract from the performance. During one such quiet moment, the trumpets had to put a mute in - a motion that may detract from the visual effect of a completely still and focused band. It can also result in a clinking sound of the metal mute against the bell. So instead of using that section to put the mute in, all the trumpet players that i saw waited quietly without even talking about this beforehand (to my knowledge, at least). Once the faster, louder section started, we all reached down and got our mutes ready. This moment really stood out to me as an example of everyone's commitment to the band and the band's collective end result instead of students who are more self-centered and only consider their own part (it's funny because we're trumpet players). I am fortunate enough to be on this trip with individuals who understand that their own part is only a fraction of the bigger picture. What I'm getting at is that a group of people like this - a community of likeminded individuals - is hard to come by, and the opportunity to travel with them to an unfamiliar continent even more so.
